Bits and Pieces...

We made it home! And after driving nearly 2,000 miles, with two kids in the back seat, that feels sooo good.

We've had a great couple of weeks. We headed down to North Carolina, which was a new place for all of us. Eric was doing an orthopedic rotation there, so we met up with him for his last week and enjoyed being in a completely new part of the country. It was gorgeous there. Tons of trees...even more than Ohio! Tons of big porches with rocking chairs... so charming. And tons of thick, southern accents. (I secretly wish I had one of those.) I loved it there and could definitely see our little family enjoying a place just like that for residency. A big thank you to the Kelly family for their generosity to Eric, and me and the boys! You make Winston-Salem seem wonderful.

And can you believe that I didn't take a single picture while we were in NC? Not one. I didn't even pull my camera out of my bag. I guess we'll just have to go back.

After Eric finished up in NC we loaded up the car and headed north to Cape Cod. It was a mere 14 hour drive, but we couldn't pass up a great and practically free place to stay(Thanks Gary and Julie)...plus Eric had a week off of school and he couldn't possibly spend that precious time sitting at home.

Cape Cod is beautiful and I just love the ocean; even in the autumn time. Spending time at the beach with my boys was so great, and being all together was wonderful. It was definitely chilly, sweatshirt type weather which made for a different kind of beach trip, but we loved it.

This was Max's first ocean experience and he couldn't get enough of the sand and the water.

The water was frigid, but Max didn't seem bothered by it at all. I could barely put my toes in without shivering, but this kid got all the way in. The only time he even flinched was when a wave splashed him right in the face.

And because he's walking all over the place, falls and bumps are all too common for this poor boy. Just check out his sore nose...he had a run in with the pavement.

Sam on the other hand was a little more timid with the water. He loved collecting seashells and chasing seagulls on the beach. He also loved pointing out all of the dead crabs that had been washed ashore. He ran and ran and ran.

Both boys loved having their daddy back. They couldn't get enough of him.

During our trip it seems that Sam's need to talk tripled! And I absolutely love it. I love talking to him. His little mind seems to move a mile a minute, and he can't stop talking about everything he's thinking. My favorite Sam Quote from the beach:

"Mom, do you hear those birds talking to each other? They're just talking about how cool I am."

More bits and pieces from the Cape (as the locals call it) coming soon...